Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

Work description

Skill Level 1 Nursery: Planting: Workers may be required to work as operators of wheel tractors pulling planters and planting wagons. Workers may be required to work on the ground planting trees that are fed through a tractor pulled planter-using shovels. Workers will be required to dig trees. Workers will also be required to plant trees by hand. Pruning: When pruning, it is vital to prune the unwanted branch while protecting the stem or trunk wood of the tree. While pruning trees, workers will receive proper tools for the particular job, i.e., saw, prunes, and hand snips. These tools will be returned to the employer at the of the task. The cost of tools destroyed maliciously or lost carelessly will be deducted from worker's wages. The supervisor will set a standard or pattern for each orchard and will demonstrate and communicate this to workers. Workers will be assigned rows of trees and must prune each tree according to the predetermined standard. Workers must remove all resulting material from the trees rendered from performing pruning tasks. When pruning is complete on each tree, each worker Is required to rake and scatter the resulting brush in the center of the tractor/equipment rows. Balled and Burlap {B&B) tree production: Workers may be required to work as operators of skid steers with tree spade attachments or haul out tines. Workers may be required to work on the ground packaging the finished root ball on a tree by stapling burlap with hog ring pliers, tying basket loops with twine, crimpling baskets with pig tail crimpers or tying branches with twine. Bare root tree production: Workers may be required to work as operators of skid steers with bare root blade attachments. Workers may be required to work on the ground tying branches with twine or hauling trees through the field and loading them onto trucks by hand. Workers will be responsible for Identifying, budding & grafting bare root trees and seedlings, Workers will also hoe, weed, and grade bare root trees. Loading and unloading: Workers may be required to work on flat bed trailers tying B&B trees to the trailer with twine. Workers may be required to work loading or unloading bare root trees by hand into refrigerated trailers. Cultivation: Workers may be required to work as operators of wheel tractors pulling cultivators, mowers or hilling disks. Watering: Workers may be required to water trees by hand using pumps and hoses, Farm Equipment Operation: Workers will drive tractors, mowers, and may use other greenhouse equipment including flat fillers. Workers will be Instructed In the safety and operation of the tractor and other equipment before driving tractor or using other greenhouse equipment. Tractors should be driven in a manner to protect operators, other workers, products, trees, crops, and equipment. Repeated failure to obey safely requirements and operating Instructions may result in termination. General Duties: Duties performed in the field will be sporadic all through the contract due to the various duties, i.e., preparing soil, planting, pruning, cutting, deadheading, pinching, trimming to shape, spacing plants, potting, fertilizing with granular or liquid fertilizer, cleaning work areas, transporting plant materials in the nursery/greenhouse areas, loading and unloading plants and all other duties associated with ornamental plant production. Between harvesting, workers will be required to perform duties to prepare crops for marketing. Workers will also unload pallets from trucks or wagons Into fields for transplanting. Worker may unload and restock for storage.